In an existing wireless local area network, operating frequency bands are mainly classified into 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and 5 GHz, and each frequency band is divided into several channels. When a terminal performs wireless communication with a wireless network device, the terminal may send a Probe Request frame in each operating frequency band supported by the terminal; after receiving the Probe Request frames, the wireless network device responds to a Probe Request frame of an operating frequency band, and sends a Probe Response frame to the terminal in the operating frequency band; and after receiving the Probe Response frame, the terminal can perform wireless communication with the wireless network device by using the operating frequency band.
In the prior art, an operating frequency band in which a wireless network device responds to a Probe Request frame is determined according to a load status of the wireless network device in the operating frequency band.
However, different operating frequency bands include different quantities of non-overlapping channels. A non-overlapping channel refers to a channel that does not overlap with another channel. For an operating frequency band including a relatively small quantity of non-overlapping channels, when a terminal performs wireless communication with a wireless network device, co-channel interference is relatively serious.